Gregory's Serverso, @settinger designed and printed a comic sans typewriter ball so we're testing it on my IBM selectric this afternoon and it totally does work!
 176 comments
12
@settinger I don't remember what I was saying in this video while Sam was filming me. Hopefully nothing too dumb @MLE_online people are going to see your coworker's infant photo on that desk and start making assumptions! I'm here to say they're all true, every assumption  @MLE_online @settinger You're probably in the clear. I don't think anybody could hear you over the Selectric. Could you imagine an office full of the things? Going to scour David Hoffman's channel and see if I can't scrounge up some period correct footage.  @MLE_online @settinger ahh this is magical, I need to dig out my electric typewriter and start fiddling  @amy isn't that fucken cool? I hate on technology a lot, but sometimes it allows some really neat things @MLE_online if i think of people who "hate on technology," your name would not come up. you criticize the bad parts that need it! very different than being a hater. and yes this is fucken COOL. how inventive, never would've occurred to me, and i'm amazed it works!  @MLE_online @settinger this is it: the first time i have ever been sincerely impressed by the output of a 3d printer.  @MLE_online @settinger The hipsters might explode. On the one hand, youβve got old-school technology, but on the other, Comic Sans. Canβt compute.   @zcopley @MLE_online Formlabs 3B! It didn't look *that* bad on an FDM machine but the crisp edges on the letterforms really do make a difference. @settinger @MLE_online Wow, okay. A ~little~ more precise than my Ender 3. Haha. I bet resin is more durable than PLA too. @settinger @MLE_online Please let me know if you decide to release the STL files (or whatever) as I'd like to try to print my own! I'll hunt down someone with good resin printer. Nice work! @zcopley @MLE_online I 100% will do that. The code's not perfect and it takes a long time to run but I want to see what other people do with it! @settinger @zcopley @MLE_online Next step would be a way to generate type balls for whatever font you specify (within reason) @jonhendry @zcopley @MLE_online how do you think I made this one? π I'll share the code when I've documented it a bit better @MLE_online @settinger I've been meaning to figure out how to change the font in my dymo... @MLE_online @settinger I have a bunch of Selectrics. I printed my own replacement cycle clutch pulley. I wonder if it would be possible to do an aluminum cast to make the element more durable (although, I realize the original elements were plastic as well). @zcopley @settinger You probably could, but it might need a little bit of machining after casting. I'm not sure how long the printed ball will last, but it seems no worse for aware after we used it @MLE_online @zcopley @settinger I remember these from when I used them at work, back in the 1980s! I used to break the teeth on golfballs far too often, and a friend who'd worked for IBM told me they were only rated for typing speeds of up to 90 wpm... so I was typing faster than that. (She did too!) @Knitronomicon @MLE_online @zcopley the teeth can break if you type too fast?? My goodness, I need to learn a lot more about selectrics! @settinger @MLE_online @zcopley Ohhhhh, yes. The clip fastening at the top would sometimes go if you were too heavy-handed unfastening it to change balls, but usually it was the teeth. I was almost a regular at the IBM shop! (It was only a bus ride away, so it was easier for me to go in my lunch break and get a new golfball immediately, rather than having to order one & wait.) @settinger @Knitronomicon @MLE_online I have never heard of this! I don't really understand how that would happen (not doubting it did). Was it just due to accumulated stress from repeatedly striking the same letter too quickly? @zcopley @settinger @MLE_online As I understand it, it was from the tilt/spin/strike mechanism below the ball - it was controlled by the teeth on the ball fitting into the mechanism, so if you pushed it to go too fast, it put pressure on the teeth. @Knitronomicon @settinger @MLE_online Fascinating. I have a few elements that are missing the levers from their caps like that. I've been trying to collect the 1st generation ones that just have "rabbit ears" (wires) that you press together to take them on and off with. Hard to find. @MLE_online Before anyone gets too upset about comic sans: the font choice and "hi Jess[i]e" are both acknowledging Jesse England's Sincerity Machine, a project and artist that mean a lot to me and bring me great joy all the time <3 @MLE_online @settinger This is the most pure and delightful thing Iβve ever seen, thank you  I have no experience in this. Is there a quick rundown or an article on now this works? I'm interested to see how this ball helps to print the letters on paper. @settinger @reaply I'll never stop thinking it's cool that they used a mechanism originally for yoking draft animals in a typewriter @reaply @settinger look up the IBM selectric typewriter if you want to find an in-depth explanation, but essentially there's a complicated mechanism that tilts and spins the ball to the appropriate character and then flicks it against a ribbon impregnated with ink so it stamps that letter onto the paper. The tilting and spinning and flicking all happens very fast @MLE_online @settinger I hope you burn in hell for such bringing such a travesty into the world. Disgusting. (clever though). @MLE_online I was going to say the only font I refuse to do is the awful pseudo-oriental "Chopsticks" font, but the joke's on me I guess because GP ACTUALLY MASS-PRODUCED THAT ONE  @settinger Why would you refuse a pseudo-oriental font? Pseudo-orientalism actually has a really fascinating history.  @MLE_online @threeze @settinger So... I don't know, Wingdings?   @MLE_online @settinger Hmmmmm gotta have to update my perpetual clock I guess Β―\_(γ)_/Β― https://perpetual.day/?golf-ball  @MLE_online @settinger This is simultaneously amazing and a crime against humanity. π   @MLE_online @settinger This is awful and I love it. I hadn't considered 3d printing for typewriter fonts, the thought had never entered my mind, but now I want to see if I can print some really weird daisy wheel fonts. @MLE_online @settinger this is both awesome and absolutely cursed. Mostly cursed, though...  @MLE_online @settinger @TechConnectify the only thing worse is the inevitable Papyrus version! https://youtu.be/jVhlJNJopOQ  @MLE_online @settinger This gives me a little hope for humanity and I am _not_ being hyperbolic at all. This is the best thing I've seen in a while @MLE_online @settinger I totally learned to type on one of those typewriters in high school, just in brown instead of orange  @MLE_online custom typeface balls might just bring back typewriters. People will keep them next to their record players. @MLE_online @settinger (1) Zapf Dingbats please! (2) mathematician co-author (now retired) on ordering his golfball, had to predict what maths he would do in next few years, so he could specify the custom keys appropriately. @MLE_online @settinger  @artcollisions @MLE_online @settinger @clive My college profs would have had me know that was the worst font in history. Good font choice Very very cool  @MLE_online @settinger wait is... is that how some typewriters work?? fascinating...   @MLE_online @settinger this is amazing. My dad was a typewriter repairman, and I would help him carry these things around as a kid. DAMN they are heavy! @MLE_online @settinger @foone BRB, sourcing one of the 1970s teletypes that used these so I can recreate the opening titles to "UFO" in Comic Sans. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2PoXfZdYVU @MLE_online @settinger @ethanschoonover probably the only thing that would make me want to use comic sans @MLE_online @settinger how long did it last? I have both a Selectric and a resin printer.  @textfiles @MLE_online @settinger you wanted to see if you could but never stopped to ask if you should.   @rose_alibi @MLE_online @settinger Or runes or hieroglyphics or cuneiform or... wistful sigh. This is so awesome. @smellsofbikes @rose_alibi @MLE_online I'm really excited about Cherokee! That's the other typeball I brought to test (the characters were too wide). The syllabary *just* fits on an 88-glyph type ball and I can stay mostly true to the digital keyboard layout, with a few liberties... Other ones I want to try are Mongolian and N'Ko, if I can get a selectric that does right-to-left text. Emojis gotta be a top priority though!!      @captainchaos @MLE_online it's very much still in the research-and-development phase! This didn't even exist this morningπ It could make sense to sell them on Shapeways in the future, I think. But also release the code for anyone who wants to make their own!  Shit I want a selectric! No I don't really but I really want a selectric! I had one I got from Los Alamos lab with a dozen odd balls and have it away. And new film ribbons. Oh well.  @MLE_online @settinger βYour scientists were so preoccupied with whether they could, they didn't stop to think if they should.β @MLE_online @settinger this makes me so incredibly happy! Do you think youβll ever release docs? I can see many selectric nerds having a fun time with this @fearnb @MLE_online yes, source is coming! I need to adjust the model a little bit and write some documentation. I'm looking forward to seeing people's suggestions for hot to improve the design. @settinger @MLE_online Iβm super intrigued to see what you have going on with the connection at the top - looks like youβve done something interesting! A really fun project Iβd been keen to look at is a generator for the stm file with different typefaces - imagine a Vogue typeface Golfball π  @MLE_online @settinger Comic Sans? Might cause some discussion that. @MLE_online @settinger now all we need is for someone to add APL symbols to comic code so you can put them on there :> (Iβve wanted an APL Selectric ball for a long time π€) @MLE_online @settinger many many years ago iβve had one like yours - not that nice color - but writing with that IBM was always a pleasure π  @MLE_online @settinger Isn't it monospaced? so it would actually be more Comic Code than Comic Sansπ€  @MLE_online @MLE_online @settinger At last! The perfect gift for the retro-enthusiast designer who keeps stealing your lunch from the office fridge: a 3D printed typewriter ball in Comic Sans.  @MLE_online @settinger We ave been looking for somebody with a template and 3D printer to produce a type-ball. Are you taking orders? Please Please Please π  This is an industry --- everyone with a Selectric is going to want to have a box of different fonts!  @MLE_online @settinger I've been thinking about this a LOT over the last year, can't tell you how excited I am to see it happen. Mind if I share it with the GolfballTypewriter FB group? I ordered a cheapass Creality SLA printer as soon as I saw this, we'll see how that does..   |
@settinger the only thing is that the design has the letters reversed, so you have to type a C to print an E and an E to type a C for example